Quote:
Originally Posted by bilbao58
My point, really, is that it won't kill any Austinites if some streets are permanently closed to make way for transit. Drivers will just have to drive on the plentiful remaining streets, though maybe those streets will be a tad more congested, which might get drivers out of their cars and onto transit. Make things easier for transit, not easier for cars. I can imagine closing Congress Avenue from the Capitol to the river, or even further south, to create a transit mall. Or if not Congress, then one of the streets running parallel to Congress.
And there's nothing irrational about the idea of eventually eliminating the use of private cars, especially if it's in limited, specific parts of town. "Eventually" is a REALLY long time.
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I get the thinking but...
1. Austin doesn't have "plentiful remaining streets." I don't think outsiders understand this. Austins street network is not built for the city that it is today and that's honestly a good thing for people like us if the proper transit infrastructure can be built to mitigate this.
2. Congress is 6 lanes wide with parking on both sides. So maybe 8 lanes wide? There is no reason on Earth that should be a transit mall. It would look dead as hell. Now, I like the idea of making it "car-lite."
3. Eliminating cars in "specific parts of town", ok. Eliminating cars period? That is what I got from your statement, sorry.